Jamaica utilities build hurricane stocks as global shipping pressures rise

With instability in the Middle East pushing freight charges higher and creating fresh risks for international supply lines, Jamaica’s main utility companies say they are building larger reserves of essential gear and putting more money into emergency planning before the 2026 Atlantic Hurricane Season. They said COVID-19, along with later disruptions around the world, showed why hurricane readiness now has to account for a more unpredictable global environment.

Senior representatives of Digicel, Flow Jamaica, Jamaica Public Service (JPS) and the National Water Commission (NWC) made the point at a Jamaica Observer Press Club session last Thursday. They said storm planning is no longer only about tracking weather systems, as wars abroad, clogged supply routes and higher transport bills now shape how utilities prepare for crises.

Digicel Chief Executive Officer Stephen Murad said the company’s response has been to secure supplies sooner and in larger quantities. “COVID taught us how to buy multiple years in advance, so all of the essential things we needed, we were buying years in advance. We’re just not taking any risks,” he said.

Murad said that shift was influenced by the pandemic as well as newer geopolitical shocks, among them the Russia-Ukraine war and continuing tensions involving Iran and the broader Middle East. He said Digicel has had to move away from normal purchasing habits by committing funds earlier and ordering important items well before it might have done in the past, so the company is less exposed if supply chains are interrupted.

Flow Jamaica Vice-President and General Manager Stephen Price said utilities are now working in conditions where uncertainty is part of daily business. “I think from our perspective from COVID we established that we live in a frugal world — volatility, uncertainty, complexity, ambiguity — and we’ve had to tiptoe through the raindrops and make sure that we plan with that in mind, knowing that anything can happen at any point of time,” he said.

Price said international disruption is already carrying a heavy cost for the sector. “We have to buy ahead, we have to discuss the various things that Stephen [Murad] said in terms of supply chain, but I’m saying at this present point in time it is a significant expense because…just the cost of shipping and moving goods…I mean I’m telling you that we are seeing 100 per cent increase in some shipping costs and 100 per cent increase in some of the cost of products,” added Price.

The warnings come as Jamaica gets ready for another Atlantic hurricane season, less than one year after Hurricane Melissa damaged several areas of the island on October 28, 2025 and placed major strain on operators of critical infrastructure.

At the NWC, Corporate Public Relations Manager Delano Williams said the agency’s work has involved boosting stocks of generators, pumps and pipes, while also putting arrangements with water-trucking operators in place before a crisis. “One of the things I think we also have had to look at in a very close way is a little bit more low-level, such as the partnerships with our truckers and having to cement those ahead of time, because even those rates change astronomically once you have a deficit in water supply,” he said.

JPS Chief Operating Officer Lance Becca said the light and power company has widened its links with overseas utilities and suppliers so that vital materials can be accessed faster after a severe event. “I would say that something that we have learned is the diversification of our portfolio, right, so some of the affiliation that we have with some of the other key members in the industry throughout the world we are making sort of that partnership. One of the things that happened with Melissa is that we were able to pull supplies from other utilities,” said Becca.

Together, the providers said Jamaica’s hurricane preparation can no longer be treated as a purely domestic matter. In their view, developments far from the island can influence delivery times, equipment prices and the country’s ability to restore essential services after a disaster.